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Klobuchar Secures Funding for I-35W Bridge, Northstar Rail, Flood Control and Other Key Minnesota Projects

Klobuchar snags nearly $360 million for Minnesota projects included in omnibus spending bill

December 18, 2007

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was successful in securing nearly $360 million for Minnesota through the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2008, expected to clear Congress in the coming days.  The legislation includes the following appropriations bills: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water; financial Services; Homeland Security; Interior; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Legislative Branch; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; State and Foreign Operations; and Transpiration, Housing and Urban Development.

Klobuchar was successful in securing funding for the following Minnesota projects:

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development – $270,063,100 total:
•$195,000,000 for reconstruction of the I-35W Bridge

•$53,900,000 for Northstar Rail Project

•$10,192,000 for the Central Corridor Light Rail in Ramsey County.

•$656,600 for the Union Depot Multi-Modal Transit Hub Project in St. Paul, Minnesota.

•$1,313,200 for the Blue Earth CSAH 12 Extension/TH 14 Interchange Project.

•$2,940,000 for Greater Minnesota Transit Bus facility.

•$1,102,500 for St. Cloud Regional Airport for future airport development.

•$656,600 for the US Highway 212 Expansion from Chaska to Norwood Young America in Carver County, Minnesota.

•$803,600 for St. Cloud small Bus replacement.

•$490,000 for Trunk Highway 14 between Waseca and Owatonna.

•$392,000 for the White Earth Tribal Nation SMART Transit and Buses.

•$882,000 for the I-35W Reconstruction design in New Brighton, MN.

•$490,000 for the Highway 610 Corridor.

•$343,000 for Highway 14 from North Mankato to New Ulm, MN.

•$490,000 for Highway 241 Improvement.

•$264,600 for Minneapolis for land building acquisition, renovation and construction as part of the city’s redevelopment.

•$147,000 for Red Lake Bank Chippewa Indians in red Lake for construction, renovation, and buildout of a multi purpose facility.

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs – $23,816,000 million total:
•$17.45 million to construct a Combined Arms Collective Training Facility at Camp Ripley

•$3.5 million for the construction of a Joint Force Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center at Arden Hills Army Training Site.

•$1.366 million for a field maintenance shop (Mankato)

•$1.5 million for Duluth 148th fighter wing storage facility (Duluth)

Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies  - $8,156,218 million:
•$196,614 for a Soybean Genomics research at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul: Soybeans grown in the Upper Midwest tend to have lower protein content than soybeans grown further south. These funds will support more research that is needed to identify genes that contribute to improved protein levels and soybean oil quality. This project is a key priority for Minnesota’s soybean growers, and helps fund study’s that could drastically increase the productivity and income of farmers.

•$308,886 for Cereal Disease Research at the ARS Laboratory, in St. Paul: This funding will support research to improve small grains resistance to scab and rusts and reduce the economic losses caused by these diseases. During the 1990s, Cereal Disease devastated the wheat and barley crop in the Red River Valley, adversely affecting both yield and quality.
 
•$218,935 for the Uniform Farm Management Project: Funds would to go the University of Minnesota’s Center for Farm Financial Management, which is creating a national database of farm financial information to help farmers make better management and business decisions. 

•$322,725 for Wild Rice Breeding and Germplasm Program at the ARS Laboratory, St. Paul, Minnesota: This program’s research addresses some of the most critical problems for wild rice producers: shattering resistance, disease resistance, germplasm retention and seed storage.  Wild rice is the only cereal grain native to North America.  Minnesota is the nation's 2nd largest producer of wild rice, with production concentrated near the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Indian Reseravation.

•$504,250 for the Midwest Poultry Research Program: The Midwest Poultry Consortium is an association of 13 poultry producing states, including Minnesota, whose mission it is to support poultry research programs at land grant universities in the Midwest.  Funds support research based on issues critical to Midwest poultry producers, such as food safety, animal health, waste management, and combating poultry diseases.

•Restore $1,346,508 for the National Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative: This project is important to combating scab (or fusarium head blight) that devastated the wheat and barley crop in the Red River Valley during the 1990s, reducing both production and quality.

•$428,800 for the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control: This program would protect and improve water quality in the Great Lakes by reducing soil erosion and controlling sedimentation through financial incentives, information, education and technical assistance.

•$4,829,500 for Wood Utilization Research Centers: This funding will go to 10 states to help the forest products sector develop new products, new technologies, and new business systems to position Minnesota as a continued leader in wood products manufacturing. 

Commerce, Justice, Science - $5,524,350 total:
•$446,500 was allocated for Winona State University’s National Child Protection Training Center: Senator Klobuchar participated in the opening of the center and has remained a strong advocate in the U.S. Senate. Among other things, the University’s facility teaches investigators and prosecutors the science of interviewing young children victimized by abuse.

•$133,950 for the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office: for use in coordinating necessarily communications equipment for its neighboring counties of Carlton, Cook, Lake, Koochiching and Pine for a Regional Interoperability Mobile Data System Project of NEMESIS (North East Minnesota Enforcement and Safety Information System). This would lead to greater sharing of information between counties and also increased protection of the Duluth airport, international border and ship port.

•$178,600 for White Earth Nation: for the White Earth’s Fighting Meth program, to educate, clean-up and enforce the growing problem of meth use on reservation lands. 

•$223,250 for Dakota County: for the Dakota County’s Law Enforcement Connections project, which will use the funds to improve the fiber optic cable looped between the main data center in Hastings and the Dakota Communications Center in Empire Township.

•$223,250 for MN Department of Public Safety: for their CriMNet Program, to fund their Name Event Index and Electronic Charging Services. CriMNet works to integrate the many local and state criminal justice and law enforcement databases across the state and provide seamless online access at a keystroke.

•$133,950 for Beltrami County: for the At Risk Children Preschool Facility which provides the community with, among other things, at-risk student education for three and four year olds, an on-site registered nurse and childhood mental health professional assistance.

•$429,550 for “Bolder Options” program in St. Paul: for the expansion of their children’s mentoring program into St. Paul, rural Minnesota and nationwide that focuses on using physical fitness as a bridge towards building healthier personal relationships and stronger academic performance.

•$223,250 for City of St. Paul: for the replacement of its 50 year old warning siren system used to alert the public to tornadoes, terrorist activities and hazardous materials emergencies.

•$178,600 for Hennepin County: for the creation of the County’s Automated Criminal Charging Program, so as to enable real time notification of critical justice events. The project includes the development of a web application so that complaints and petitions from prosecutors and law enforcement can be routed on to the courts. Among other things, this will save law enforcement time it currently spends transporting complaints and provide a more efficient tracking and processing system.

•$133,950 for Olmsted County: for the Safeguarding Children’s Initiative, which seeks to prevent abuse and neglect of at-risk children.

•$564,000 for Minneapolis Gunfire Detection System

•$141,000 for Willmar Gang Enforcement

•$775,500 for Winona St. Child Protection Services

•$470,000 for White Earth meth enforcement

•$564,000 for St. Paul Police Department for 800mhz radio

•$470,000 for St. Paul Police Car Cameras

•$235,000 for Marshall, Minnesota Sheriffs Youth Program

Energy and Water - $39,061,848 total:
•$3,936,000 for the continuation of work on the Red River of the North Flood Control project in Breckenridge: After the massive Red River basin floods of 1997, government officials decided to implement permanent flood damage reduction projects for the communities along the river, including Breckenridge. Up until this point, the second stage of the project was stalled due to of lack of federal funding

•$393,600 for a new state of the art Plasma Gasification Waste-To-Energy facility in Koochiching County: Converts municipal solid wastes into energy and other marketable solid by-products in an environmentally sound manner. The Renewable Energy Clean Air Project (RECAP) would use the funds would be used to conduct a feasibility study to assess technical, economic and environmental matters.

•$26,568,000 million for South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota: Along with five senators from South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, Klobuchar announced further federal funding allocations for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System. Klobuchar announced today that $28 million would be sent to the project for the construction of a water pipeline that will provide clean water from the Missouri River to over 300,000 people in Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa through its 20 member cities and rural water systems.

•$985,968 for Red Wing: for the ongoing efforts to reconstruct the embankment system at Lock and Dam 3, on the Mississippi River which is six miles upstream from Red Wing, Minnesota.

•$147,600 for Marsh Lake: for the completion of the Marsh Lake Aquation Ecosystem Feasibility study which would identify measures to restore more than 5,000 acres of wetland habitat within the existing reservoir and to reconnect Lac qui Parle to more than 750 miles of streams in the Pomme de Terre River basin. This restoration would allow more Minnesota hunters, anglers, birders, canoeists and outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy thousands of migratory waterfowl and other birds and fish.

•$98,400 for Blue Earth: for the County’s Ecosystem Restoration feasibility study to evaluate measures that would restore habitat and connectivity between the Minnesota River and 1,200 miles of perennial tributary streams. The study would assess the removal, modification, and rehabilitation options for the Rapidan Dam.

•$226,320 for the Minnehaha Creek: Watershed Lake Itasca to Lock and Dam 2 control mitigation

•$93,480 for St. Paul: for the dredging of the lower harbor at Harriet Island in St. Paul which silts in on a regular basis. The Harriet Island Regional Park has not received funding from federal and other sources.

•$78,720 for Marshall: for completion of flood damage reduction project.

•$935,000 for Mille Lacs

•$1,872,552 for Northeastern Minnesota

•$1,265,424 for Stillwater, Minnesota

•$984,000 for Laurentian Energy Authority

•$492,000 for the Minnesota Center for Renewable Energy

•$984,000 for White Earth Tribal Wind Energy program

Interior – $6,359,224 total:
•$3,445,400 for Koochiching National Forest for forestry legacy.

•$1,230,550 for Superior National Forest to acquire the 43 acre “Long Island” located in Burntside Lake near Ely, Minnesota:  This land is of particular interest to conservation experts because of its close proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. Not only will wildlife habitat and water quality be protected but the land will also be made available to the public to enjoy for camping, canoeing, boating, fishing and other activities.

•$984,400 for Grand Rapids, MN wastewater treatment center.

•$403,604 for the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge: to acquire land for conservation purposes of native prairie and grassland ecosystem

•$295,320 is secured for the City of Minneapolis: to update their combined sewer overflow system necessary especially in times of extreme rain.

Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Bill - $6,095,062 total:
•$1.09 million for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Veterans Reentry program.

•$240,737 for Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota: This funding will go to the Children’s Institute for Palliative Care National Education Center, which provides training, continuing education, resources, consultation and technical assistance to health care providers in a 5-state region.

•$301,658 for Children’s Hospital and Clinics: Grant will be used to help purchase facilities and equipment.

•$242,702 for the Center for Healthcare Innovation at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth: The Center will work with rural hospitals and other health care organizations to facilitate the transition to health information technologies, including electronic and personal health record systems. The goal is to reduce health care costs and improve the quality of health care.

•$283,971 for the Health Sciences Administration at the University of Minnesota: To provide instrumentation and construct laboratory facilities within a new building on the Twin Cities campus.

•$243,684 for Twin Cities Rise! for job training initiatives.

•$191,607 Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Minneapolis: To further develop and implement efforts to support seniors living in their communities

•$95,312 St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Wabasha: To conduct a disease prevention pilot program to decrease the prevalence of chronic disease.

•$95,312 MN Indian Women’s Resource Center: To improve mental health support services to reduce the instances of child abuse, substance abuse, and domestic violence

•$118,894 Sheriff’s Youth Program in Inner Grove Heights: for chemical dependency treatment services.

•$335,066 Engineering technology center at Bemidji State University: Funding to establish the Applied Research Center to encourage the study of science, mathematics, and engineering among Minnesota youth.

•$478,526 Metropolitan State University for nursing education programs: To promote and develop the nursing profession primarily among minorities and first-generation college students

•$238,771 for a nurse training program at Bemidji State University: Funding for equipment and continued development of a nursing program to address the nursing workforce shortage in northern Minnesota.

•$478,526 HealthEast Care System: Funding for a community health information technology initiative to improve health outcomes and efficiencies in health care delivery.

•$95,312 for Advocating Change Together, Inc.: To support disabilities rights training initiatives.

•$286,919 for the Arrowhead Economic opportunity Agency in Virginia, MN: Funding to increase employment opportunities and strengthen family stability among low-income families.

•$406,796 Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department:  Grant to help Family Healing and Restoration Network Project.

•$383,214 Lutheran Social Services: to provide support for runaway and homeless youth in Northeastern Minnesota.

•$478,526 Minnesota Humanities Commission: Funding to help development of model curricula and educational resources about Ojibwe and Dakota history, language, and culture for teachers across Minnesota.

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